I am sure Parker will do well his freshmen year. However the best of all time I do not think so.The best I saw came from the West Philadelphia Speed Boys.Eugene Banks.AKA Tinkerbell. Banks was one of the reasons Duke made it to the1978 national championship game.He scored over 2000 points and had over 1000 rebounds during his 4 years at Duke.

— Posted by cbhopper122859

Banks = man amongst boys...

— Posted by 903 Oct 17th and 1 win

how did Banks teams do against the heels??..he woulda overlapped with the Ford/Davis heel teams...just curious

I am sure Parker will do well his freshmen year. However the best of all time I do not think so.The best I saw came from the West Philadelphia Speed Boys.Eugene Banks.AKA Tinkerbell. Banks was one of the reasons Duke made it to the1978 national championship game.He scored over 2000 points and had over 1000 rebounds during his 4 years at Duke.

^Normally I would agree with you Tizu, but in this case I have to disagree. This is not your typical top 5 guy out of high school. Wiggins and Jabari are both regarded as basketball royalty, and for good reason. He has been playing against the best of the best whilst in high school. This kid is not from some po dunk town in Iowa, he was playing the best teams in the country, regularly. Talent like Wiggins and Parker do not come along very often, and I would say we have not seen talent like this since Durant or even Mello.

— Posted by hoodwinked82

I understand your point...but it was still high school...with high school coaches. Things are much, MUCH different in college than in High school. The game is 10x faster and plays aren't made as easily. I'm just saying I'm not going to get on the hype wagon until I see the guy play against the top teams and players on those teams.

Believe me, I hope he is every bit as good as advertised...nothing would make me happier. :)

I am sure Parker will do well his freshmen year. However the best of all time I do not think so.The best I saw came from the West Philadelphia Speed Boys.Eugene Banks.AKA Tinkerbell. Banks was one of the reasons Duke made it to the1978 national championship game.He scored over 2000 points and had over 1000 rebounds during his 4 years at Duke.

Sheldon, Shavlik, and Mcroberts were NOT held in the same regard as Jabari, not even close. Jabari played against the best high school players in the country, regularly, all 4 years. He dominated consistently and alot of those guys are in the league now. Harrison Barnes DID NOT play against the same level of competition consistently like Jabari has, and he was never considered to have the type of talent Wiggins and Jabari have.

Sheldon, Shavlik, and Mcroberts were NOT held in the same regard as Jabari, not even close. Jabari played against the best high school players in the country, regularly, all 4 years. He dominated consistently and alot of those guys are in the league now. Harrison Barnes DID NOT play against the same level of competition consistently like Jabari has, and he was never considered to have the type of talent Wiggins and Jabari have.

Lets not crown the young man just yet, he has a long way to go and its not easy being a freshman.

— Posted by kmorrevenge

This. Simma Down as they say. I'm not getting on the hype train. The kid was a phenom in high school, that doesn't always translate to the college game...we've seen it time and time again. Lets see how he does playing some big time schools against big time players...then we'll talk.

— Posted by Tizu

Yep, we saw it first hand with Harrison Barnes... There's also an unknown about how good Hood will be in real games.

^Normally I would agree with you Tizu, but in this case I have to disagree. This is not your typical top 5 guy out of high school. Wiggins and Jabari are both regarded as basketball royalty, and for good reason. He has been playing against the best of the best whilst in high school. This kid is not from some po dunk town in Iowa, he was playing the best teams in the country, regularly. Talent like Wiggins and Parker do not come along very often, and I would say we have not seen talent like this since Durant or even Mello.

Lets not crown the young man just yet, he has a long way to go and its not easy being a freshman.

— Posted by kmorrevenge

This. Simma Down as they say. I'm not getting on the hype train. The kid was a phenom in high school, that doesn't always translate to the college game...we've seen it time and time again. Lets see how he does playing some big time schools against big time players...then we'll talk.

I have a sneaking feeling that we will be hearing about Jabari ALOT this season. Will be nice to come back to this thread about half way through the season and check our predictions. I personally think if he stays more than one year, like he said he wanted to, he will be the best ever to lace them up for Duke, and that is saying alot. Old school type of game for Jabari.

Did you see his letter back to that obnoxious, arrogant dookie who criticized him for leaving school early?

WOW!

From: Elton Tyron BrandSent: Sunday, April 25, 1999 8:05 PMTo: Taylor, JenniferSubject: Re: Leaving DukeThank you very much, for reminding me of the reason why I left Duke. People like you can not and will not ever understand my situation. I'm sure daddy worked very hard to send your rich self to college. While real people struggle. I would also like to extend an invitation for you not to waste your or my time ever agin. Never being considered a part of your posh group of yuppies really hurts me to the heart. Yeah, right. Because I don't care about you or your alumni. Sincerely,Elton Brand #42 NBA

Jabari will succeed because he fills a need since Plumlee is gone. I'm not saying that he can do what Plumlee did for Duke, but that he will take up space down low. Offensively, he will be a major threat on the low block which will give Duke the inside-out option which will free up the perimeter. And Duke's got lots of shooters obviously (despite the loss of Seth and Ryan). But also, when Marshall comes up alongside Hairston or Jefferson, Jabari can also become a focal point as a perimeter threat either to drive and dish, drive and create or stretch the D with his perimeter shooting. At any given time, he can be Grant Hill on the perimeter or Christian Laettner down low along with Laettner's outside touch. Nothing anyone in the ACC has seen before.

Defensively, he will probably need to lay low and let the other four do the dirty work. He's too valuable on the offensive end to show his defensive ability and risk picking up fouls. But with his size, he will definitely get his 7-10 boards per game...

Had some success in his first at UNC with 355 yards on 84 carries, but was only used sparingly in his last three years. Had a handful of excellent pro seasons with Pittsburgh, including 2 Pro-Bowls and 2 Superbowl Rings (longest run from scrimmage in SB history).

I saw him in person and haven't seen a better duke player since Kyrie Irving, forget freshman only.

I think Jabari has the potential to be better than Kyrie because 1) hopefully he's healthy, and 2) he will be the unquestioned focal point of the team.

The last time I saw a player at Duke play a full season and was as good as Parker was probably Elton Brand or Grant Hill.

Seriously, just wait until you see him play. Anyone that saw his games as a Senior in high school may be misguided. He was out of shape because of a broken ankle and the inability to play or condition at all for almost 4 months. He has completely changed his body and says he's in the best shape of his life.

There is no weakness to his game. He's big (6'9&quot; 245), long arms, above-average athleticism, finishes around the rim with authority, blocks shots, gets in passing lanes, has incredible court vision and savvy, great ball-handler, outstanding shooter from both mid-range and 3pt line, can post up smaller defenders. He can do it all.

This kid is going to be amazing to watch. Wait until November... he is going to take College Basketball by storm

If he were playing for almost any other school, I would say he was a shoe in to be their best freshmen ever, going to be a little bit harder at Duke. Just wanted to gauge what you fellow Duke fans think about his chances to be one of our best ever, if not the best ever freshmen on Duke campus.